The Oregon Ducks will be making their 11th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history on Thursday afternoon when they take on Oklahoma State at 1:40 p.m. (PT) at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. The Ducks are the No. 12 seed in the Midwest Regional, while the Cowboys are the region’s No. 5 seed. The winner of the game will meet the winner of the clash between No. 4 seeded Saint Louis Billikens and the No. 13 seed New Mexico State Aggies. Oregon is 1-0 all-time against Oklahoma State. The lone meeting came on Dec. 28, 1987 in Portland, Ore., as a part of the Far West Classic. The Ducks won the game, 68-55. Oregon’s No. 12 seed is the program’s lowest since the NCAA began seeding teams for the tournament in 1979.

DUCKS SEEK FIRST NCAA WIN SINCE 2007

For the Oregon Ducks, the 2013 NCAA Tournament appearance is their first since 2008. The 2008 Ducks earned the ninth seed but fell to No. 8 seed Mississippi State, 76-69, in the first round. Oregon’s last victory in the NCAA Tournament came in the 2007 Sweet Sixteen, when it knocked off UNLV to advance to the Elite Eight. The Ducks would go on to lose their next game in the national quarterfinals to the Florida Gators, who would go on to win the 2007 National Championship.

SELECTION COMMITTEE KEEPS DUCKS WEST

The Ducks were selected to the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Regional on March 17 but they will play their opening round games about 560 miles south of Eugene in San Jose, Calif. Should Oregon win its first two games of the tournament, it will travel to Indianapolis, Ind., for the Midwest Regional semifinals and finals on March 28 and 30.

OREGON’S NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY

Oregon has made 10 previous trips to the NCAA Tournament and it is a combined 12-9 in those previous appearances. Oregon has won one national championship (1939) and has advanced to the Elite Eight on five occasions (1939, 1945, 1960, 2002, 2007), although there were only eight participating teams in the 1939 and 1945 NCAA Tournaments.

MIDWEST REGIONAL HISTORY

Oregon has been selected to play in the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Regional four times in program history and four times in its last five tournament appearances (2002, 2003, 2007, 2013). Oregon is 6-4 all-time in Midwest Regional tournament games, advancing to the Elite Eight in 2002 and 2007 and falling in the first round of the 2003 and 2008 NCAA Tournaments.

SLU, NEW MEXICO STATE JOINS DUCKS AND COWBOYS IN FOUR-TEAM POD

Fourth-seeded Saint Louis and 13th-seeded New Mexico State join the fifth-seeded Oklahoma State Cowboys and 12th-seeded Ducks in San Jose, Calif., as a part of a four-team pod that will compete to move on to the Midwest Regional Semifinals. The winners of the second-round matchups will meet in the third round on Saturday in San Jose. No. 4 Syracuse, No. 13 Montana, No. 5 UNLV and No. 12 California are also playing its opening games in San Jose but are competing in the East Regional. Oregon is 1-0 all-time against Oklahoma State, 1-0 against Saint Louis and 2-2 against New Mexico State in program history.

NCAA TOURNAMENT NOTES

The Louisville Cardinals earned the 2013 NCAA Tournament’s overall No. 1 seed after capturing the 2013 Big East Tournament Championship. Joining Louisville on the No. 1 line is Gonzaga, Indiana and Kansas. Last year’s champion, Kentucky, was left out of the NCAA’s Field of 68 and will participate in the National Invitational Tournament. Of the final four teams from the 2012 NCAA Tournament (Kentucky, Kansas, Louisville, Ohio State), only Kentucky failed to qualify for this year’s tournament, while Ohio State is on this year’s No. 2 line. There will once again be four networks covering the NCAA Tournament — CBS, TNT, TBS and TruTV.

PAC-12 TAKES FIVE NCAA SPOTS

Five teams from the Pac-12 Conference claimed a spot in the 2013 NCAA Tournament. In addition to the 12th-seeded Ducks, Arizona and UCLA are each seeded sixth, Colorado grabbed a 10 seed and California is a No. 12 seed. The five teams are the most the Pac-12 has sent to the NCAA Tournament since 2009, when six teams participated on college basketball’s greatest stage (Arizona, Arizona State, USC, California, UCLA, Washington). Last year, only Colorado and California qualified for the NCAA Tournament. The Buffaloes won one game to advance to the third round, but the Golden Bears were ousted in their opener. The Pac-12 has not had a team reach the Regional Final since 2011, when Arizona fell to eventual-national champion Connecticut, 65-63. No Pac-12 team has reached the Final Four since the 2008 UCLA Bruins and a Pac-12 school has not competed in the National Championship game since the Bruins fell to Florida in 2006. The 1997 Arizona Wildcats were the last Pac-12 team to win the NCAA Tournament.

DUCKS AGAINST THE FIELD

The Ducks are 223-295 all-time against opponents from the 2013 NCAA Tournament field. Oregon played six of the 68 NCAA Tournament participants during the 2012-13 regular season and conference tournament. The Ducks beat UNLV and lost to Cincinnati in November, defeated UCLA twice, beat Arizona in January and fell to both California and Colorado two times.

NO. 12 SEEDS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

A No. 12 seed has failed to defeat a No. 5 seed in the first games of the NCAA Tournament just three times (1988, 2000, 2007) since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985. In 2012, 12th-seeded South Florida knocked off fifth-seeded Temple in the second round and No. 12 VCU bested No. 5 Wichita State as well. However, VCU and South Florida failed to reach the next round. But a 12 seed in the Sweet Sixteen is not an unusual occurrence. In fact, the lack of a 12 seed in the 2012 Sweet Sixteen broke a string of four-straight years with a No. 12 team in the round of 16. Most recently, 12th-seeded Richmond won two games to advance to the 2011 Sweet Sixteen. Only one No. 12 seed has gotten past the round of 16 and into the Elite Eight. In 2002, the 12th-seeded Missouri Tigers defeated eighth-seeded UCLA to reach the national quarterfinals. Missouri would fall one game short of becoming the first and only No. 12 seed to reach the Final Four, though, losing to Oklahoma in the 2002 West Regional Finals, 81-75.

ALTMAN PICKS UP NINTH NCAA BERTH

Head coach Dana Altman joins Howard Hobson (1939), John Warren (1945), Steve Belko (1960, 1961), Jerry Green (1995) and Ernie Kent (2000, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008) as the only coaches in the 108-year history of the Oregon basketball program to lead the Ducks to the NCAA Tournament. Altman will be making his ninth appearance as a head coach (he has been three times as an assistant) in the NCAA Tournament this March. Previously, Altman went once with Kansas State (1993) and seven times with Creighton (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007), including five-straight trips from 1999-03.

DUCKS NOW TIED FOR FOURTH ON SINGLE-SEASON WINS CHART

The 2012-13 Oregon Ducks enter the 2013 NCAA Tournament with a 26-8 overall record, good enough for a fourth-place tie on Oregon’s all-time single-season wins list. The victory over UCLA tied the Ducks with the 2001-02 team, which finished 26-9. The 1944-45 Ducks won 30 games and hold the all-time record.

DUCKS WIN THIRD PAC-12 TOURNAMENT

Oregon’s 78-69 victory over UCLA in the Pac-12 Tournament Championship game on March 16 gave the Ducks their third conference tournament title in school history. Oregon’s previous championships (2003, 2007) came as members of the Pac-10 Conference. The Ducks are 3-0 all-time in conference championship games.

LOYD NAMED TOURNAMENT MOP

Junior guard Johnathan Loyd scored a season-high 19 points in the Pac-12 Championship game and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. Loyd averaged 11.3 points per game and 3.0 assists per game for the tournament. In addition, Loyd sunk 11 of his 12 free throw attempts and shot 3-of-7 from behind the arc.

THREE NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

In addition to Johnathan Loyd’s Most Outstanding Player award, senior Arsalan Kazemi and freshman Damyean Dotson garnered All-Tournament honors. Dotson averaged 15.7 points per game and hit eight out of his 15 3-point attempts. Kazemi notched a double-double (12 points, 12 rebounds) in the final against UCLA and posted 14 points and nine boards in the quarterfinal victory over Washington.

DUCKS BEAT UCLA TWICE FOR JUST THE SECOND TIME SINCE 2003

Oregon’s victory over UCLA in the Pac-12 Tournament title game gave the Ducks their second win over UCLA in a single season for just the second time since 2003. The 2010 Ducks accomplished the feat as well. Oregon has won four-straight games over UCLA, its longest winning streak over the Bruins since it won five consecutive games from 2002-03.

RASK INDUCTED INTO HALL OF HONOR

Prior to the Pac-12 Tournament Championship game, the conference announced its 2013 Hall of Honor inductees. The list of 12 players included former point guard Chuck Rask, who played three seasons for the Ducks (1957-1960) and piloted Oregon to its best NCAA tournament finish since the Tall Firs’ National Championship by leading the Ducks to the Regional Finals in 1960. Averaging 12.5 points per game his final year while shooting better than 76 percent from the free throw line, Rask still owns the school’s McArthur Court records for most free throws made (18) and attempted (19) in a single game vs. Oregon State. He concluded his career by earning All-Far West Classic, All-Coast and All-America honors following his senior season.

DUCKS TAKE THREE FROM HUSKIES FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1946

Oregon’s overtime triumph over Washingtonin the Pac-12 quarterfinals gave the Ducks’ their third victory over their rivals in the 2012-13 season. It marks the first time since the 1945-46 campaign that Oregon has beaten Washington three times in a single season. Last year, the Huskies took two out of three from the Ducks and ended Oregon’s season in the NIT quarterfinals.

Oregon’s win over UCLA in the Pac-12 title game added to senior forward E.J. Singler’s all-time wins mark that leads all players in the history of Oregon basketball. He enters the NCAA Tournament with 87 career victories. Only four other players in Oregon history (Freddie Jones, Joevan Catron, Luke Jackson, Dick Wilkins) have won at least 80 games. Singler also scored 14 points in the Pac-12 semifinals against Utah to eclipse the 1,500-point mark. He enters the NCAA Tournament with 1,509 career points and is just two away from tying Aaron Brooks (1,511) for 11th on Oregon’s all-time scoring list.

ALTMAN WINS COACH OF THE YEAR HONOR IN FOURTH DIFFERENT CONFERENCE

Oregon head coach Dana Altman guided the Ducks to a second-place tie in the Pac-12 standings after being picked by the media in the preseason to finish seventh. Under Altman, the Ducks have posted their second consecutive second-place finish and third consecutive 20-win season. Altman has now won Coach of the Year honors in four different conferences – the Pac-12 (Oregon, 2013), Missouri Valley (Creighton, 2001 and 2002), Big Eight (Kansas State, 1993) and Southern (Marshall, 1990). He is the third Oregon coach to receive Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors, joining Dick Harter (1977) and Ernie Kent (2002).

SINGLER A SEMIFINALIST FOR EDDIE SUTTON TUSTENUGEE AWARD

Oregon senior forward E.J. Singler joins 11 other individuals on the semifinal list for the college basketball’s third annual Eddie Sutton Tustengee Award, to be presented by Tulsa Sports Charities. The Sutton Award is presented to the collegiate basketball player who best exhibits the traits of tenacity and unselfishness that Sutton advocated during his Hall of Fame career. The winner will be introduced during the Tulsa Sports Charities Legends in Sports dinner at the Southern Hills Marriott in Tulsa, Okla., at a date to be announced.

KAZEMI TALLIES 54TH DOUBLE-DOUBLE

Senior Arsalan Kazemi scored 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in Oregon’s win over UCLA in the Pac-12 Tournament finals. His performance was his ninth double-double of the season and 54th of his career. He registered 45 double-doubles during his three-year career at Rice.

DUCKS IN THE MIDST OF ONE OF THE PROGRAM’S ALL-TIME GREAT RUNS

The Oregon basketball program was won 87 games over the last four years, putting the current run from 2009-13 alone in fifth place for most wins in a four-year period in school history. In addition, the 71 wins in Oregon’s three years under head coach Dana Altman ranks third all-time.

OREGON RECEIVES FIRST-ROUND BYE

The Ducks finished the Pac-12 regular season with a 12-6 record, placing them in a three-way tie for second place with California and Arizona. After the tiebreaker scenarios settled, California took the No. 2 seed, Oregon fell to the No. 3 slot and Arizona received the No. 4 seed.

DUCKS TAKE THIRD SEED YET AGAIN

The Oregon Ducks were the Pac-12 Tournament’s third seed for the second-straight year. It is Ducks’ best two-year run in highest seeds in program history. Last year, the Ducks lost to No. 6 Colorado, the eventual tournament champions, 63-62 in the quarterfinals. The best seed Oregon has ever received was in 2002, when the Ducks won the Pac-12 regular season and took the No. 1 seed. That year, Oregon dropped an 89-78 decision to No. 4 USC in the tournament semifinals but did advance to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight just a few short weeks later.

OREGON PAC-12 TOURNAMENT HISTORY

The Ducks are now 18-12 all-time in Pac-12 Tournament games after their 2013 title. Oregon has now won three Pac-12 Tournament titles (2003, 2007, 2013), beating USC in 2003 and 2007 before topping UCLA on March 16. In addition, the Ducks are now 4-2 in first round play, 8-5 in the quarterfinals and 3-5 in semifinal play. The Ducks’ three tournament championships are the only years in which they appeared in the finals.

OREGON TIES HOME WIN MARK

The 2012-13 Oregon Ducks won 17 games at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene this year which tied the school record for single-season home victories (Oregon went 17-3 at home in 2011-12). The Ducks finished the year 17-2 at home and carried a 20-game home court winning streak into February before losing a 48-47 game to Colorado on Feb. 7.

ALTMAN LEADS DUCKS TO 20 WINS AGAIN

The 2012-13 Oregon Ducks joined just 13 other Oregon basketball teams in the 108-year history of the program to win at least 20 games in a single season with a 65-52 triumph at Washington on Feb. 13. The Ducks have now won at least 20 games in all three of head coach Dana Altman’s seasons at the helm of the program.

ALTMAN WINS 600TH CAREER GAME

Oregon’s victory over Stanford on Feb. 23 was Dana Altman’s 600th win in his 28-year coaching career. Altman won 123 games at the junior college level and now has 478 wins as a NCAA Division I head coach.

ALTMAN REGISTERS 15TH 20-WIN SEASON

Oregon improved to 20-5 overall with its 65-52 victory at Washington on Feb. 13. The win gave head coach Dana Altman his 15th 20-win season in his NCAA Division I coaching career. He has won 20 games in all three of his years at Oregon as well. Altman’s first 20-win season came 19 years ago when his 1993-94 Kansas State Wildcats went 20-14 en route to an NIT berth. From 1998-2009, Altman posted 11 consecutive 20-win seasons as head coach at Creighton, including a 29-5 campaign in 2002-03. Oregon is searching for its first NCAA Tournament appearance under Altman’s guidance, however, and first since the 2007-08 season.

KAZEMI MOVES INTO SECOND PLACE ON OREGON’S ALL-TIME STEALS LIST

Senior Arsalan Kazemi tallied four steals in Oregon’s loss to Utah on the final day of the regular season to give him 64 for the 2012-13 season. The four steals moved Kazemi past Kenya Wilkins (61 steals, sixth place), Terrell Brandon, Freddie Jones and Luke Ridnour, who each posted 63 steals during the 1990-91, 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons, respectively, and are in a fourth-place tie all-time. Then, Kazemi posted two steals in the Pac-12 Tournament to give him 66 for the season and move him past Malcolm Armstead’s 2010 mark of 65 for second on the all-time steals list. The record for most steals in a single season is 89, set by Armstead in 2011.

DUCKS SWEEP NORTHWEST SCHOOLS FOR FIRST TIME IN 87 YEARS

Oregon’s 85-75 victory over Oregon State on Feb. 28 gave the Ducks their first sweep over the Beavers since 2011. It also completed the season sweep over the Pac-12’s northwest schools (Oregon State, Washington, Washington State) for the first time since the 1925-26 season. The 1925-26 Ducks also went 6-0 against the Beavers, Huskies and Cougars and completed their sweep with a 25-15 win over Oregon State on Feb. 19, 1926.

EMORY TORCHES BEAVERS FOR CAREER-HIGH 21 POINTS

Senior Carlos Emory burned Oregon State for a career-high 21 points on Feb. 28. Emory finished the game 8-of-13 from the field, hit four of his five free throw attempts, grabbed four rebounds and dished out two assists.

WOODS INCHES CLOSER TO FIFE ON OREGON’S BLOCKS LIST

Oregon senior Tony Woods blocked three shots in the Pac-12 Tournament to give him 89 in his two-year career with the Ducks (Woods played his first two collegiate seasons at Wake Forest). Woods, who ranks third all-time on Oregon’s blocks list, is now just four blocks shy of catching Bob Fife, who blocked 93 shots from 1989-93, for second all-time.

LOYD, SINGLER JOSTLE FOR POSITION ON ALL-TIME STEALS LIST

Oregon junior Johnathan Loyd enters the NCAA Tournament with 112 career steals, which ranks 10th all-time. But senior E.J. Singler sits in 11th place with 110 steals and is just one steal away from catching his teammate. Loyd and Singler are two and four steals away from tying Terrell Brandon’s (1989-91) 114 steals mark for ninth place all-time.

ARTIS RETURNS AGAINST BEAVERS

Freshman Dominic Artis, who had been hobbled by a foot injury since the Jan. 23 game against Washington State, returned to the hardwood on Feb. 28 against Oregon State. Artis hit two 3-pointers in the Ducks’ victory and finished with six points in 12 minutes of action.

FOUR SENIORS PLAY FINAL GAME AT MATTHEW KNIGHT ARENA

The second leg of the Civil War on Feb. 28 marked the final game in Eugene for four Oregon seniors: E.J. Singler, Tony Woods, Carlos Emory and Arsalan Kazemi. Singler will go down as one of the most prolific scorers in Duck history; he enters the postseason with 1,509 career points and sits 12th on Oregon’s all-time scoring list. Woods has accumulated 89 blocks in his two-year career with the Ducks, which lands him third all-time. In his two years with Oregon, Emory has been a force off the bench for Dana Altman. He is second on the 2012-13 Ducks in scoring, averaging 11.0 points per game. Finally, Kazemi, who transferred to Oregon after playing his first three years at Rice, is averaging 9.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per game this season and has consistently ranked in the top-three in the Pac-12 in rebounding the entire season. He grabbed a season-high 18 rebounds on Feb. 21 against California.

WOODS ECLIPSES PERSONAL REBOUNDING BEST IN WIN OVER STANFORD

Senior Tony Woods grabbed a career-high nine rebounds in Oregon’s 77-66 triumph over Stanford on Feb. 23. The nine boards broke his previous high of eight which he set on Feb. 2 at California. Woods scored nine points and was 4-of-6 from the field in 23 minutes to compliment his rebounding effort.

LOYD DISHES OUT CAREER-HIGH NINE ASSISTS IN STANFORD GAME

Johnathan Loyd put forth one of his best games of the season on Feb. 23 against Stanford. The Oregon point guard scored a season-high 15 points and dished out a career-high nine assists to help bury the Cardinal. Loyd also played a game-high 37 minutes to pace the Ducks.

LOYD RECORDS CAREER-HIGH IN STEALS IN LOSS TO CAL

Oregon junior guard Johnathan Loyd notched a career-high five steals in the Ducks’ loss to Cal on Feb. 21. Loyd broke his previous mark of four steals, which he had done seven times before.

LOYD PUTS UP ANOTHER STRONG PERFORMANCE AGAINST WASHINGTON

Junior guard Johnathan Loyd scored 11 points on Feb. 13 at Washington, his first double-figure scoring game of the season. All 11 of Loyd’s points came in the second half. In the win, Loyd surpassed his previous season-high of nine points that he set on Jan. 26 in Oregon’s 81-76 win over the Huskies in Eugene.

TWO DUCKS SCORE OVER 20 IN WIN AT WASHINGTON STATE

Seniors E.J. Singler and Carlos Emory each finished with 20-point games in Oregon’s win at Washington State. Singler’s 25 points were a season-high and Emory’s 20 points were a career high. In addition, it marked the first time since March 18, 2012 that two Oregon players scored at least 20 points in a game. That night, Singler and Olu Ashaolu had 25 and 22 points, respectively, in Oregon’s 108-97 triumph over Iowa in the National Invitational Tournament.

SINGLER WINS 82ND GAME AS A DUCK, BECOMES SCHOOL’S ALL-TIME LEADER

Oregon’s win over Washington State on Feb. 16 was senior E.J. Singler’s 82nd in his remarkable career with the Ducks. He is now the school’s all-time leader in career victories (he now has 87 entering the NCAA Tournament). Singler has played in 139 games for Oregon and won 16 games as a freshman, 21 as a sophomore, 24 during his junior season and 26 so far as a senior. Only four other players have won at least 80 games in an Oregon uniform. Freddie Jones and Joevan Catron have 81 career wins and Luke Jackson and Dick Wilkins each have 80.

DUCKS’ DEFENSE HAS HELD EIGHT OPPONENTS UNDER 50 POINTS

Oregon’s 64-45 win over Utah in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals marked the eighth time this season that the Ducks have held an opponent under 50 points during a game. The eight games is the most by a Duck team since the 1982-83 and 1959-60 teams held nine opponents to less than 50 points. Overall, dating back to the 1938-39 National Championship team, the eight sub-50 point efforts by Ducks’ opponents ranks 14th all-time, with 13 coming before the 1960-61 season.

E.J. MOVES SINGLER BROTHERS CLOSER TO RANSEY COMBINATION

E.J. Singler and brother Kyle Singler, who played four years (2007-11) and won a national championship at Duke University (2010), have combined for 3,916 points in their careers. They currently rank 14th all-time in brother scoring combinations. E.J. pushed the Singlers past Kelvin and Clinton Ransey, who scored 3,880 points at Ohio State and Cleveland State, respectively, from 1977-87, with his performances at the Pac-12 Tournament. With three more points, the Singlers will catch Jason and Ryan Thompson, who scored a combined 3,916 points at Rider from 2005-10 (a complete list of the NCAA’s all-time scoring for brother combination is located to the right).